Slug casting machine



March 14, 1933. R; R. MEAD 'SLUG CASTING" MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fig! VENT OR March 14, 1933. R R MEAD 1,901,113

SLUG CASTING MACHINE Filed Aug 8, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR A YS Patented Mar. 14, 1933 UNITED STATES \EPVATENT OFFICE RICHARD H. MEAD, or QUEENS VILLAGE, NEW YORK, AssfGNo :roMEEGENTEALER LINOTYPE COMPANY, A conroan'rron on NEW YORK SLUG cAsTINeivIAcHINE Application. filed August 8,-1930. Serial no maeee.

Office, where the number of leads thus required to: be cast and carried in stock runs into hundreds of thousands. In this connection it may be stated that the spacing of lines in certain classes of printed matter, such as Congressional bills, is required to be as much as 12 pt, and this in the case of 1% pt.type characters, so that, as will be apparent, it is altogether out of the question to cast such slugs frojm two-letter matrices with the necessary added thickness, or in other words to cast a 14 pt.type line on a 26 pt. slug body. In deed, since the thick'nessof the dividing wall between-the matrix characters is somewhat This invention relates to slug casting machines, such, as linotype machines of the general organization represented in U. S. Letters Patent to O. Mergenthaler No. 436,532, whereina type bar or slug is cast in a slotted moldup against a composed line of matrices which produce the type characters thereon. In these machines the matrices are usually provided with two type producing characters or cavities, one a roman and the other an italic, these two characters being arranged in superposed relation on the matrix body and separated from each other by an interveiling wall or partition, and it is the practice to compose the matrices in line at an upper or lower level, or both, as may be required, in order to present the type producing characters of one kind or the other in registration with the-mold slot. In casting slugs from such two-letter matrices, it is apparent that the width of the mold slot is limited by the height of the matrix characters plus the thickness of the dividing wall or partition between the two superposed characters, as otherwise the mold slot would open into the unselected matrix cavities and allow the metal to overflow from the mold, producing a defective slug and a squirt.at the front. lVhile ordinarily the thickness of a cast slug corresponds to the height of the type characters thereon, it is common practice to cast the slug of an added thickness for spacing or leading purposes, say for example to cast a line of 12 pt. type characters on a 14 pt. body slug. In the case of a line of 14 pt. characters however there is no margin left for, leading purposes and hence it is only possible to cast a 14 pt. type'linc on a 14: pt. body or substantially so. I p

In View of the foregoing limitations asto the width of the mold. slot, when it is necessary to produce a wide spacing of the type lines, separate leads or blank slugs of the required thickness must be inserted in the printing form between the successive slugs, this practice requiring considerable time and labor and entailing es tra expense in the casting, storage and handling of the leads. This is particularly true'in large'printing offices, such as the United States Government Printing of a body dimension greater than the height of the matrix characters plus the thickness of the dividing wall. I

Y In attempting to overcome the foregoing defects it has been proposed to castthe leads or blankslugs automatically after the eastng of each printing slug and to'asse-mble them m the galley in proper order. This scheme however has not proved entirely satisfactory because the casting'of the leads between -successive slugs slows up the operation of the machine and curtails production to such an extent as to make it impracticable.

Another attempt has contemplated the utilization of the rearjaw of the first elevator as part of the casting mold, it being proposed to cutaway the upper wall of the mold and cause the elevatorjj aw to enter the mold and shut off communication between the superposed matrix characters (see the Murray Patent No. 1,567,857 of December 29, 1925). Besides possessing certain mechanical defects, thisrscheme is also objectionable in that it requires aspecial form of first'elevator which is incapable of cooperating with the regular form of mold and thus limits the machine to the casting of the special leaded slugs vor else necessitates a reorganization of the parts to adapt the machine to cast slugs of ordinary scheme requires that the first elevatorbe presented to the mold always in its lowermost will close the mold, whereas it is often the less than 2 pt.', it is never possible to cast slugs or standard forms. Besides, this particular,

practice to arrest the elevator in a raised po- 1 position so that the rear wall of the elevator ition in order to present the lower characters of the matrices in registration with the mold slot; hence, if this practice were resorted to, the mold would not be closed during casting and would inevitably produce a bad squirt. The present invention aims to solve the problem involved without giving rise to the objections above-mentioned or any others of a troublesome nature. To this end, it is 10 proposed specifically to modify theregula-r form of mold insuch manner that the'upper side wall or cap portion will present a relatively fixed rear section which determines the effective width of the mold cavity and a retractable complementary front section which restricts the width of the mold cavity at the front, so that the slug cast in the mold cavity will be narrow along its type character edge (that is to say no wider than the height the type characters demand) but of much greater width below the type character edge (that is to say of such greater width as may be required for spacing purposes). I 1 As-is'well known, in the regular form of '25 head-letter mold, the cap portion is formed 7 on its inner or casting face with a series of transverse grooves and intermediate cores to produce a recessed or skeleton slug, and in carrying out this invention, it is preferred to make use of a mold of this kind, altho obviously a plain mold, such as is used for easting solid slugs, could be employed, if desired. In the case of such a head-letter mold, the front retractable section need only act toclose the fore-and-aft grooves at the front, since it is theseqgrooves which extend beyond the separating wall between the superposed matrix characters and allow communication of the mold with the upper or unselected characters. If desired, the front mold section may be solid thruout, but in the present embodiment, as preferred, it is' formed with inclined cuts or grooves to register with the grooves 1n the rear section, so that the ribs cast on the slug willextend closer up to the printing edge and give a neat er and more finished appearance to the cast slug. The forward edge of the front section however is made integral thruout so 7 as to fit tightly against the proposed matrix line, and'the inner or casting faceis flush with the'inner or casting faces of the cores on the rear section, whereby the spacing rib grooves will be closed at the front and the recesses cast in the side of the slug will'be straight and con 7 tinuous as ordinarily.

In the use of the improved mold,it is'mount- 'ed as usual upon a rotary disk which is operated periodically to present the mold, first in position for the casting of the slug, and later in position for the ejection of therast slug.

In order to relieve the operator of all care and attention, means are provided for auto- 'matically'retracting'the front moldsection as the mold is carried by the rotation of the disk from casting to' ejecting position and for automatically restoring it (the front mold section) to operative position as the mold is carried from ejecting to casting position. In the present instance, such automatic operation of the mold section is effected by means of a stationary cam track located on the hub about which the mold disk rotates, the mold section being connected to a frame having a roller running on thecam track.

It will now be seenthat the improved mold is capable of producing slugs with spacing ribs of any desired width without any limitation on account of the size of the matrix characters. For example, the mold shown in the accompanying drawings is adapted to cast a 14 pt. type line on a 26- pt. body, which is about the most extreme condition encountered in practice, and this with the same facility as slugs are cast in the regular molds.

As will be understood. the spacing ribs cast on the slug function in the same way as separate leads inserted between adjoining slugs, so that the mere casting of the slugs automaticallytakes care of the required spacing or leading when the slugs areassembled in the print ing form. Separate leads are therefore entirely dispensed with, as well as the time and labor involved in inserting and removing them in and from the printing form. Furthermore, no change isrequired to be made in any part of the machine except in the 'mold itself, which, if need be, can be readily removed and replaced by a mold of standard form. However, since it is the common practice to provide a rotary disk with two or more molds, the machine may be equally adapted for regular work simply by adjusting the tive position. I

As a further feature of the invention it is also proposed to employ an improved set of trimming knives to dress the slugs as they are ejected from the improved mold. Ordinarily, the trimming knives are arranged with their cutting edges in the same plane so as to act simultaneously on opposite sides of the slug as it is pushed thru them. In the present instance,'however, one of the knives (the so-called left-hand knife) is set backward of the other orright-hand knife for a distance about equal to that of the spacing ribs below the type character edge of the slug. In this way, no trimming of the slug takes place until the spacing ribs are brought into engagement with the right-hand knife, which is about the time the solid or unrecessed side of the slug is presented to the left-hand knife, and thereafter the two knives act together in dressing the slug down to its proper thickness. This new arrangement of trimming knives will avoidany tilting or rocking of the slug as it is pushed thru the trimming knives.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a molddisk mold disk to bring a standard mold into acof the regular linotype machine equipped with the present improvements; I

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 2-20f Fig. 1, and showing the first elevator in casting relation to the improved mold;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged face view of the improved mold, showing the frontmold section in its retracted position;

Fig. is a top plan view of the improved mold F ig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; i

Fig. 6 IS a cross sectional vicw of the parts,

showing a slug is process of ejection andtrimview of a slug cast or'a slug with a 26 pt. body, aridin' this connection it may be statedthat thetype characters to be cast on the slug have been selected as 14 pt., which is about 'the larg-est'size now employed for two-letter matrices. The body portion A and the liners C and Dare of customary construction and require no special comment, but the cap portion 13 has been modified to give effect to the present invention in themanner'now to be described.

As bestshown in Figs. 2 and 5, thecap portion B is made up of a rear section land a complementary front section 2, the combined width of these two sections equalling the width of the body portion A.

The rear section 1 is fixed in relation to thebody portion A, being hel'din place upon the liners C and D by theusual fastening devices 3 at the opposite ends of themold, and like the regular form of mold cap, it is formed with a series of fore-and-aft thringrooves 4; and-intermediate cores 5 (Fig. 3). Thedepth of the grooves 4 (approximately 12 pt.) plus the width of theslot or space between the inner casting faces of the cores5 and the upper or casting faceof the body portion A (approximately 14 pt.) determine the effective width ofthe mold cavity as a whole (261312.). This form of mold cap is employed for casting'recessed or skeleton slugs, the cores 5 producing recesses in one side of "the slug andthegrooves't producing spacing ribs on that-side of the slug. For casting solid slugs, the cores '5 would be omitted, which case the casting face of the cap would be" cated in a planecoincidingwith the bottoms of the grooves. g

Thefifrontmold "seamen 2 isslidable ou twardly and, inwardly on the rear section 1, being provided atits rear side with three ribs 'or tongues 7 (Fig. 4) fitted in grooves or jguidew'a'ys 8 formed on the, for-ward side of the rearsection, the two end-ribs, as shown, being rabbetted to prevent the forward displacement of the frontsect ion. At its "opposite'ends, the'sectio'n2 is formed with rectangular openings to receive correspondingly shaped lugs 9 "located on the upper ends of a pair ofbars 10 passing inwardly thru openings cut in the liners C and D and the body portion A (Figs. 3 and At their inner ends, the bars 10 are connected by a rigid cross bar 11, thef several bars. thus constituting a frame by means of which the mold section 2 may he slid upon the mold section 1 toward and from the bodyportion A.

The forward or matrixi contacting edge of the mold section 2 is solid or integral thruout and the same is true'of its inner or casting face 12, which, as shown in Fig. 2,.is flush with the inner casting faces of the cores 5 during casting." At its rear, however, the section 2 is formed wlth a series of inclined cuts or grooves 13 registering with the grooves 4 in the rear section 1 and constitut-' ing continuations thereof, These cuts or grooves 13 are not essential and may be omitted entirely, butthey serve to finish off the ribs cast on theside of the slug and to bring them closerto the printing face. Notwithstanding the presence of the grooves 13, the front'mold section 2,.as will be observed from Fig.2, closes at the front the grooves 4 of the rear mold section land thus serves to restrict the width of the mold cavity at the front, as intended. The action of the front mold section would beexactly the same, were the cores 5 omitted, since it extends thruout the length of the'mold cavity and consequently would partiallyclose the mold cavity at the front eventhough the latter were continuous and adapted for casting solid or unrecessed slugs.

The improved "mold is mounted in the usual way, as by means of screws 14 passing thru the body portion A upon a rotarydisk E journal ed upon fixed or stationary hub E (see Fig. 2). As isfwell known, the disk E at each cycle of operation of the machine is (Fig. 1) so as to locate the selected mold'first in a horizontal position (as in Fig. 1) for the casting of a. slug, and later in a vertical position (as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1) for: the ejection of the cast slug. VVhenthe machineis at rest, the slotted mold stands in the ejecting position, being moved from that position to the casting position by a one-quarter rotation of the disk and later rotated periodically by the driving pinion E 20 returnedto its original or ejecting position by a. three-quarter rotation of the disk.

s It is during these periodical rotations of the mold disk that the front mold section 2 is moved to and from its operative position. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that there is fixed to the hub E, as by means of cap screws 14 a continuous grooved cam 15 wherein engagesa roller 16 journaled in a .bracket 17, depending from the cross bar 11 of the frame before referred to. The shape ofthegrooved cam1 5 is suchthat, when the mold is in casting position, asfshown by the full lines in Fig 1, thefront mold section 2 is drawn'down to and held firmly in its opera- .offact, and as can be seen from Fig. 1, the

cam 15 is concentric for about three-quarters OfJitsJeXtent 'andpresents an eccentricity thruout .the remaining one-quarter of its extent. The highest point of the cam, indicated 1 5, stands directly opposite the eject- ,ing position or, more specifically, in the hori zontal diameter of the mold'dis'k so that the mold section 2 will be fully retracted at the time the mold stops in ejecting position. Since the mold disk always turns counterclockwise, the one-quarter, first" rotation of the disk in carrying the mold from ejecting to casting position will result in the gradual drawing down of the mold section, the cam exerting its greatest pressure when the mold .is m casting positlon, at wh ch time the mold section mustoccupy its operative or mold restricting positionf Later, when thedisk .makes its three-quarter rotation to carry the mold from casting to ejecting position, the cam, be1ng concentric thruout the greater part of this motion, acts to maintain the mold section in its operative or. unretracted position,'this being desirable becauseof the back trimming of the slug which takes place during this rotation. Finally. when the mold approaches its ejecting position, the cam acts gradually to lift the mold section and to retract it fully by the time the mold arrives in the ejecting position."

- Fig. 2 shows a composed line of matrices X in casting relation'to the improved mold. As will be noted, the matrices are'each formed with two superposed type producing characters'or cavities 00 and I032 separated from each other by "an intervening wall or partition 'In, the illustrationgiven, some of the cores 5.

the. matrices of the composed line are supported in the first elevator 1* (which is of regular form) at a lower level to present their upper or roman characters in operative position, while others are supported in the elevatorat an upper level to present their lower oritalic, characters in operative position. The construction of the casting parts and their mode of operation are so well known that a detailed description would be superfluous. Suffice it to say that after the composed line has been transferred into the first elevator, the latter moves downwardly into the position shownin Fig. 2 to locate the line of selected matrix characters in registration with the mold cavity. Prior to casting, the mold disk is advanced to bring the mold into contact with the composed line which closes the mold cavity at the front, and then the mouthpiece G of amelting pot is advanced into contact withthe rear face of the mold .to close-the mold cavity at the rear, the molten metal then being discharged by a pump into the mold and up against the composedline of matricesfor the productionof the type bar or slug. 7 p V By lookingat Fig. 2 it will be apparent at once that, if the grooves 4: in the rear section 1 of the mold were extended clear thru to the front of the mold, as in'the regular form of mold, the grooves would overlap or open into the upper characters of those matrices whose lowercharacters are in casting position, and as a result the molten metal would flow out of the mold past the matrices, causing not only an imperfect slug, but producing a squirt. In the improved mold, on the other hand, the front section 2 closes the grooves 4 at the front and thus shuts off communication between them and the upper matrix characters, and more, actually restricts the mold cavity to the area defined by the selected matrix characters in casting position.

Since these characters are of 14 pt. size, the front mold section 2 serves to restrict the mold cavity at the front to a corresponding width or, in other, words, to the width of the.

slot or space defined by the casting face of the body portion A and the inner faces of Fig. 7 shows a slug Y, such .as is produced by the improved mold. As will be noted, the slug comprises a body portion Y (of 14 pt. size) cast in the mold slot proper last referred to, a line of type characters Y (of 14 pt. size) cast in the matrix cavities, and a series of transverse spacing ribs Y cast in the grooves 4, the intermediate blank spaces or recesses being produced by the cores 5. The upper beveled ends Y of the ribs Y are castin the grooves 13 of the front wall section 2. Had thesegrooveslii been omitted,

the ribs Y would present straight or squared off shoulders, hence the presence of the grooves.

of the front mold section after casting to permit the ejection of the cast'slug.

10. In a slug casting machine, the.combi nation of a. mold comprising sideand end walls whichdefine between them a cavity wherein the slug is cast, one of the side walls of. the mold'being fixed as a whole, and the other side wall thereof presenting a relatively fixed rear section which determines the cf- 10 fective width of the mold cavity and a retractable complementary front section which restricts the width of the mold cavity at the front, means for moving the mold from casting to ejecting position and vice versa, and

automatiomeans for retracting the front mold section when the mold is moved from casting to ejecting position and for restoring it to operative position when the mold is moved from ejecting to casting position.

11. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a mold comprising side and end walls which define between them a cavity wherein the slug is cast, one of the side Walls 7 of the mold being fixed as a whole, and the other sidewall thereofpresenting a relatively fixed rear section which'determines the effective width of the mold cavity and a retractable complementary front section which restricts thewidth of the mold cavity at the front, a rotary disk wherein the mold is mounted and operable periodically to carry the mold from'casting to ejecting position and vice versa, and means actuated by the rotation of the disk to retract the front mold section as the mold is carried from casting to ejecting position and to restore it to operative position as the mold is carried from ejecting to casting position. a

12. In a slug casting machine, the combi- 40 nation of a mold comprising side and end walls defining between them a cavity wherein the slug is cast, one of the side walls of the mold presenting'a relatively fixed rear 7 section formed with fore-and-aft grooves and intermediate cores,a retractablecomplementary 'front section which closes said grooves at the front, and automatic means for efiectingthe retractionof the front mold section after casting to permit the ejection of the cast slug. 7

3 13.1113 slug casting machine, the combination of mold comprising side and end walls defining between them a cavity where- H in the slug is cast, one of the side walls of the Q I u i mold presenting a relatively fixed rear section formed with fore-and-aft grooves and j intermediate cores, a retractable complementary front section which closes said G0 grooves at the front, means for moving the mold from casting to ejecting position and vice versa,and automatic means for retracting the'front mold section when the mold is moved from casting toejecting position and for restoring it to operative position when from casting to ejectingpositionandvice vcrsa, va stationary hub on'\vl1ich the mold disk is rotatably mounted, and a "cam located on the stationary hub and operative upon the front mold section to effect its retraction as the mold is carr1ed from castmgto e ect- Position and torestorelitto Operative position as the mold is carried from ejecting to castingEposition. 15. The combination 9,characterized by"the fact thatrthe f.mo1d therein referred to comprises abody portion, an overlying cap portion, and intermediate liners, said parts defining between. them the mold cavity wherein the 5111,; is cast, and

characterized by the-further fact that the side wall'of-the m'old presenting the relatively fixed rear section and the-retractable complementary-front section is constituted by the cap portion of the mold. j j

" In a slug casting Ina'chine,,the combination of a composed line of two-letter matrices presenting a line of matrix characters or cavities, someor allof said characters being the lower characters :of' the matrices in the composed line, and a slotted mold to cooperate withthe lineof matrix characters, the effective widthjof the'slot being great enough to overlap the upper characters-of the matrices whose lower characters are in casting position, said mold comprising a cap portion presentinga relatively fixed rear section and retractable complementary front section' which shuts off communication between the mold slot and saiduppermtarix characters, and automatic means-for retracting the front mold. section. after casting .to

permit the ejection of the cast slug.

"17. In a slug casting machine, the combination ;of a composedline of two-letter matrices'pre$l1ting a line of matrix characters or cavities, some or all-of said charas specified in claim acters being the lower characters of the matrices in the composed'line', and a slotted mold to cooperatewith the line .of matrix characters, the upper'wa'll or cap portion ofthe mold comprising a relatively fixed rear section formed with fore-,andaft grooves overlapping the upper characters of the matrices whose lower characters are in casting position, and a retractable complementary front section shutting "0H communication between said grooves and said upper matrix characters, and automatic means for retracting the front mold section after casting to permit the ejection of the cast slug.

18. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a mold for casting a slug solid on one side and formed with ribs on the opposite side, said ribs being located a given distance below the type character edge of the slug, and a pair of trimming knives between which the slug is forced after casting, the two knives being arranged with their cutting edges disposed one in advance of the other for a distance approximately equal to the distance the slug ribs are located from the type character edge, whereby rocking and tilting of the slug during trimming is avoided.

In testimony whereof, this specification has been duly signed by:

RICHARD R. MEAD. 

